They say a man is judged not by how he acts in times of success, but how he handles himself in times of adversity. If this is true, a certain Rock Cats intern passed that test with flying colors this summer during his time at New Britain Stadium.

Let me be perfectly clear: much of the adversity that came my way was self-manufactured.

For example, one of the Rock Cats’ players had to be brought to the airport for a flight to Florida for a medical rehab assignment. The plane was leaving in one hour. Needless to say, time was of the essence.

The conversation between driver and player was light, but enjoyable, as we cruised down I-84 west for about 10 minutes. It took the driver about that length of time to realize he was on the wrong side of the highway, headed toward Waterbury and not the airport.

The slightly awkward, low­key conversation came to an abrupt stop when both people in the car became aware of the problem, with the flight departure time inching closer and closer. The only person making any noise at all at that point was Tim McGraw.

Imagine if the player was being called up as an emergency fill-in for the Rock Cats’ parent club, the Minnesota Twins. If he didn’t make his flight and the Twins called the Rock Cats’ front office to find out what happened, I pictured their response being something along the lines of, “The in­tern must have done some­thing to him!” As an intern with a minor league baseball team, you learn the day-in and day-out functions of what it is like to work in professional baseball. Not all of it is glamorous, but it is all necessary.

The main goals for any minor league team are to promote, advertise and sell. But how can a minor league team make itself stand out from competitors and persuade people to spend money in its park instead? Community ap­pearances offer an effective way for a team to become a respected and involved brand in its surrounding area, and one of the best vehicles in that effort are mascots.

I went on several community appearances, dressing as various Rock Cats’ mascots for the enjoyment of kids and their parents. There are a few things about my time as a mascot that I’d like to share:

1. Mascot suits are not meant for bigger guys. No one wants to see Rocky having trouble keeping his zippers closed.

2. You don’t know real pain until beads of sweat are trickling down your face and you have no way of wiping them off with your giant mascot suit paws.

3. Putting on the costume in a bathroom stall is not only impossible, but also very distracting to the man at the nearby urinal.

4. There is nothing more humbling than when a mascot head barely fits onto your head.

Suffice it to say, maybe the mascot thing wasn’t for me. But there are other promotions, too, such as guest appearances at games.

WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter was one of these guests at a game earlier this summer. The Rock Cats chose me to be his chauffeur, picking him up at the airport and bringing him to his hotel. Easy enough, right?

After searching for him frantically at the airport, we finally met up and he was able to squeeze himself into my Nissan Sentra. Being a little intimidated by his size, I tried to find things to say as I hurried to get my GPS set for the ride to the hotel. I figured any wrong move on my part could end in me being clobbered by the Sarge in my own car.

Luckily for me, he didn’t mind the scenic views of small towns in Connecticut when my GPS made the trip twice as long by only taking me on back roads.

I never thought I’d live to see the day when I would ask a hotel clerk for a reservation under the name “Slaughter”.

So, you can see a lot of the problems that occurred could be tied back to me. It wasn’t always pretty, but in baseball terms, a hit is a hit and they’re all line drives in the box score.

In hindsight, these problems weren’t really crucial things, but more part of the learning experience involved in any internship. Learning how to overcome obstacles and make the best of a situation is important in any line of work.

Thanks to the Rock Cats and their staff for an enjoyable summer full of lasting memories. It was quite a ride, and this one was in the right direction (for a change).

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